In Box Review of the CMK 1/35 PANZERJÄGER Pz.Kpw. 35t/R2 TACAM

HISTORY:In October 1934 the Czech Army placed an order for two prototypes of a medium tank called the S-11-a (or T-11) which were completed in the following year. Army trials with these vehicles started in June 1935 and soon uncovered many, many faults as a result of the tank's rushed development. Without waiting for these faults to be corrected an order was placed for a first batch of 160 vehicles in October 1935, and the first five of these were delivered in the following year. So many faults were found with these vehicles that these were returned to Skoda for modifications. A further batch of 138 was ordered for the Czech Army, which called it the LT vz 35, while Romania ordered 126 under the designation R-2. Gradually most of the faults were overcome and the vehicle gained a good reputation.The Germans took over the remaining vehicles, after Czechoslovakia surrendered to them, under the designation Panzerkampfwagen (PzKpw.) 35(t) and a further 219 were built specifically for the German Army in the Skoda Works. Such was the shortage of tanks in the German Army at that time that the 6th Panzer Division was equipped with the Pzkpw. 35(t) in time to take part in the invasion of France in 1940. These continued in service until 1942 when most of these were converted into other roles such as mortar tractors (German designation: Morserzugmittel) artillery tractors (German designation: Zugkraftwagen) or maintenance vehicles which served with tank battalions.It is not often realized that Czechoslovakia was a leading exporter of armored vehicles and artillery prime movers before WWII, with sales made to Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia, Peru, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey.The hull of the LT vz 35 was of riveted construction that varied in thickness from 12 mm (0.47 in.) to a maximum of 35 mm (1.38 in.). The bow machine-gunner was seated at the front of the vehicle on the left and operated the 7.92 mm (0.31 in.) ZB vz 35 or 37 machine-gun, with the driver to his right. The commander/gunner and loader/radio operator were seated in the two-man turret in the center of the hull.Main armament consisted of a 37.2 mm Skoda vz 34 gun with a 7.92 mm mounted co-axially to the right. Totals of 72 rounds of 37 mm and 1,800 rounds of machine-gun ammo were carried. The engine and transmission were at the rear of the hull. The transmission had one reverse and six forward gears. The suspension on each side consisted of eight small road wheels (two per boggie) with the drive sprockets at the rear, and the idler wheels at the front. There were four track return rollers.An unusual feature of the tank was that the transmission and steering were assisted by compressed air to reduce driver fatigue, so enabling the tank to travel long distances at high speed. Problems were encountered with these systems when the tanks were operated by the Germans on the Eastern Front because of the very low temperatures encountered there.In mid 1943, a team directed by Lt.Col. Constantin Ghiulai designed a self-propelled anti-tank gun for the Romanian Army. It was designated "T.A.C.A.M. Skoda R-2". A prototype was developed from July to September of 1943. This prototype was ready on October 24th, 1943 and was tested at the testing grounds at Suditi. On February 12th, 1944 a series of 40 vehicles.Due to technical difficulties, only a small series of 20 production...and one prototype were produced at Leonida & Company Factory in Bucharest. It was armed with captured Soviet Zis-3 and F-22 UWS 76.2 mm L/42 guns and based on modified PzKpw. 35/R-2's design. The gun was mounted in a lightly armored superstructure (made by using armor plates from captured vehicles) which was open at the top and rear. The superstructure was mounted in the frontal part of the hull (in place of the turret on a pure LT vz 35 tank), while other components andcharacteristics remained unchanged. Only 30 rounds were carried, with a number of machine-guns for local defense by the three man crew.The vehicle weighed 11,500 kg, had a range of 190 km (on roads) and maximum speed of 34 km/h. Due to the difficulties with 76.2 mm ammo, the Romanians produced their own ammo called "Constantinescu" and used the gun sight LO.R. This ammo was effective against Soviet t-34/85 tanks at ranges up to 600 meters. Overall design of the T.A.C.A.M. was similar to that of the German MARDER series with it's high profile and light crew protection. have been unable to find out what T.A.C.A.M. stands for.

WHAT'S IN THE BOX:The kit comes in a large, tray and lid type box, which is much too big a box. There is a huge letter "L" void around the kit's contents. Baumann is the importer for CMK kits in Japan, where I got this kit from. So, it may have been Baumann that put this into the large blousy box. It sure could havebeen packed smaller.There are five trees of parts, molded in different shades of light gray styrene. This color of plastic seems to be the general rule in most of the Eastern European made tank kits that I have.A small fret of brass PE parts, decals, and the instructions completes the contents of this blousy box. Everything is packaged into one cello bag.Two identical letter "A" trees hold link and length type track links, bogies, road wheels, idler wheels, and drive sprockets etc. (63 parts parts per tree,for 126 total)

Tree "C" holds tools, fenders, and unused turret parts (these parts are probably common to his kit and to CMK's earlier kit of a pure PzKpw. 35(t)). (24 parts of which 11 are excess) CMK already removed the turret top piecefrom this sprue at the factory per the parts tree drawings.

Letter "E" tree is the main weapon parts and some more shielding (27 parts)

There are 13 parts on the small fret of brass P.E. parts. Some are grab handles and shield bracing. I cannot, readily, identify what the remaining ones are.

I purchased a set of VLS German radios, that I think will pass for Romanian ones to put inside my TACAM. I also will add a set of my companies white metal ammo (Armor Research Co.) and a set of my brass PE straps and tie-downs.

The decals that are included in the kit.

The small instruction sheet is three sheets, folded and inserted into each other, without staples, to form 12 total pages.Page one gives us the vehicle's history in Czech, English, German, and French.Page two contains the parts tree drawings, international assembly symbol explanations, and color references.Pages three through the top of page 10 gives us 31 assembly steps. In several steps some surgery to parts will have to be done, as this kit shares common parts with the turreted version of this vehicle.The bottom of pages 10 through 12 give us two marking and painting options.Both are for Romanian vehicles in 1943 and 44. The most colorful one is the one featured on the box lid painting.

ConclusionIf you like open-topped, self-propelled artillery tanks as much as I do, then thiskit is for you. Highly recommended. I want to thank my net buddy, Mitsu, in Tokyo Japan